They Will Cry

January 26, 2018

During the course of a musician’s life they are bound to encounter many talented individuals. Indeed if I had the weight of counting ALL such individuals I have encountered, I don’t know that I could arrive at a number. Now, if I had to name a few who had the most influence, well, that would be a far easier task to complete, I think. One of those individuals for both Don and I was the person for whom They Will Cry was written. Long after the death of Larry Wells, I still think of him, Don still thinks of him, and we still love him. I remember “like yesterday” the notes he played and “what he said with strings that bled.” The melodies were beautiful, full of meaning, and his tone could reach into the depth of you and break you. His playing was so powerful that I can still hear him play in my mind, and that is what truly inspired the song. The lyrics speak plainly of our relationship so I won’t elaborate too much on that. The more complex vocals took shape against the monotony of what you hear in the piano, and the repetition of the piano was meant to represent thoughts that reverberate over and over again in one’s mind, much like a well loved memory. Of course there is so much going on in the song, something had to provide the simplicity and foundation against which the other complexity could develop, and that is what the piano does for the song. Don attempted to channel the emotive quality of Larry’s playing in the lead solo and wanted the character of the solo to have a reminiscent quality. This does much to contribute to the overall ethereal nature of the song. The duet in the vocal part is again like a memory, but this time the memory has a difficult time finding it’s full shape. When all of the vocals finally come together to form the idea of the chorus, the memory has become so clear, it’s “like yesterday.” At this moment in the song, the memory of Larry’s music is so great that it has transcended to a different plane of existence, and those who exist on that plane “will cry when they hear what he said.” It gives me great comfort to think of Larry and his music in that place.